Lifeboat apparatus



u June l2, 1923. 1,458,880

l F. A. GRAHAM LIFEBOAT APPARATUS Filed Aug.. 1 3. 1920 z sheets-snaai 1 Arron/vers June 1"2, 1923.

F. A. GRAHAM vLIFEBOAT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 13, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MM wh (194 wl /vfssfs 'l Arron/ins Patented June 12, 1923.

Umts-D, sim-Erg FRANK ARCHIEGRARAM, or HARRORv SPRINGS, nrcnreniv. i"

This invention relates to an apparatus for use in life boats, and has reference` more particularly to an apparatus for life boats which is adapted to actuat'e the propeller by compressed air, the heat from"compressingl said air being utilized in distilling salt water in vacuo. 1 1

When shipwrecked persons, are adrift in a life boat, two' of the essentialsl necessary are the production of distilled Waterr4 for Aquenching thirst, and propelling means for theilife boat to take saine to land. It`so1netimes happens that persons havebeen adrift in a life boat on the ocean andy have died a horrible deathl ofv thirst because the` vsalt water was not'fit to drink.

An object of this invention therefore, is

` to provide an apparatus whichl may be operated lby the occupants ofthe lifeboat to furnish both distilled water and compressedhavinga flexible washer 27of leather, rub,.- ber` or the like, is slidably mountedin the cylinder 121. A A. pistonrod28 is secured. at

air as power to operate the propeller.

`Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus ofthe class indicated in which the air compressorv pump cylinder is cooled by salt water, the heat from said cyl? inder being utilized in distilling said salt water vin vacuo so as to vobtain drinking Water.

A further objectv of this linventionis', to provide an apparatus in a lifeboat forvthe propulsionof said life boat andfor the 'distillation of salt water whichismanually operated and does not require fuel, thus increasing the capacity ofthe" litt boat for passengers. and food.

Aqfurther object of this invention-is -'to provide an air compressor with a maximum' volumetric efficiency. due toycooling of' the ccilnpressed air by-the saltwater tofbe disti ed.

A still furtherobjectloi" this invention isl to providea Vacuum pump-.to be used for distilllng ther salt water in vacuo'withthe lowest ypossible temperature so as not to cause inconvenience to theJ occupants of thelifeboatrv- Reference is to -b'e had to the laccompanying drawing formi-ng a partof this specifica.J

Y :LIFEBOR'T APPARATUS.

Application inea August' 13,' 192e. serial no.; 403,375.

- tion in which it yis undeistod-aat the dim-,

ing illustrates only one form ofV the invention, and'in which u' v Figure 1 Vis -a plan view, of the life boat fittedwith my improved apparatus.`A A

Figure 2 yis a c'entralisectional view through theA life boat.l x

Figure y3 As a central sectional View v through a unit of my improvedl apparatus on a large scale.

apparatus on the line 4-.4-01" Figure 3. l Referring to the,` accompanying drawingby numerals 10 indicates a life' boathaving center seats 11, bow seat 12, sterny seat13,

said shaft being rot'atedbyy a compressedair motor 17 ofk any suitable construction.

the stern seat 13, anda pipe 19 having `acompressed air tank 18 is positioned underf valve 20- connects said tank to the lmotor 517.1

In order to ,supply compressedfairjto Athe.'

tank 18, I providea cylinder 21' having cylinder headsy 22 andl23. An exhaust valve 24 and an intake valve` 25 are positionedinor near the cylinder'head 22` and a `piston 26 one 'end tothe piston 26j1byineans; ofnuts '29. 1 -The int'ake valve125jsi s open to thecatntk pipe 31 leading tothe air tank. 18.

The-compressed `air p assingthroughthe,

coil 30iswarm dueto the heat of comprese, sion, vandl` take yadvantage of this fact inz utilizing this heatforthe distillation of the i salt water in'vacuo.' 'In-order to accomplish` this, I posi-tion'the coil 1 30 inside a' vapor chamberj32 having a removable' cover.33.' V uA vacuumcylinder 34 isjconnectedtor` they vapor chamber 32 by a porti-35, andza vpiston 36 lis yslidably mounted in the cylinder .-34

andis provided with" a )flexible washer 3?A of i rubber,- leather, lor thelike. l Apijston rod, 38 is connected to the piston 36by nuts2'39.

The .cylinder 3 4 lis provided vivi-tha cylinderA head` 40 through which extends tliegendjoiY, p I

the piston rod 38 oppositethe pistong36, and

said piston rodend is conneftedalloy;l a .yokezy `4:1 tofthe: end of the piston,rod. 2&opppsite`.`

the piston f 26, said yoke being, connected to saidrpiston'rods by'nuts 42. hole is* p provided in the yoke 41 between the rods 28 and 38, and a link 44 is'pivotally connected by a bolt- 45 to said yoke, said bolt passing through the hole 43. rlhe end of the link 44 opposite the bolt 45 is pivotally connected by a bolt 46 to a lever 47 pivot-ally mounted in a bracket 48, said bracket being secured to the licor 49 of the `lite boat. The upper end oit the lever 47 is provided with a laterally extending handle which is operated by the occupant of the life boat seated on one of the seats 1l.

The rocking of the lever 47y by an occupant of thelite boat causes pistons 26 and 36.to reciprocate iii cylinders 2l and 34 respectively, thus causing the heated compressed air to pass through the coil and a vacuum to be :termed in the vapor cylinder 32. I pr-ovide a salt water -tank 5l preferably positioned under the bow seat l2. A pipe 52 is connected to the tank 5l eX- tending to within a short distance of the bottom of said tank. The pipe 52 extends along the cylinder 21 to form a preheating coil 53, and the end of said pipe is provided with a metal valve 54 seated in a valve housing 55, The end of the pipe 53 extends into i the vapor chamber 32 and is vbent downspray or drops.

wardly directly over the coil 30 so that when a vacuum is created in thechamber 32, salt water will be drawn from the tank 5l and will falll on the coil 30V-in the form of a The water/falling on the coil`3Or will be vaporized by the heat of the compressed air due to the vacuum in' the vapor chamber 32 and the steam will pass into the cylinder 34 throughfthe port 35,

Y while the salt remaining behind will fall on to 'a tray 56 which can be cleaned out from time to time by removing the cover 33, A thi'mble 57 is positionedaround the coil 30 sov as to preventthe water from spreading, as it falls.

When the piston 36 (Fig. 3) moves tothe rightthe water vapor in the right hand end of the cylinder 34 passes the washer 37 diie tothe fact that the periphery of said washer 4 `is turned'to the lett.V 4When the piston 36 moves to the left, the' watervapor in the cylinder 34 is driven out through an outlet valve 58 into a condensing coil 59, said coil beingr under atmospheric pressure and serv?,

` ing to condense the vapor to water.Y Distilled4 water formed in the coil 59 is torcedy upwardly through a pipe G0 into a'water'" tank 6lV preferably positioned under vtlie'bow seat l2.` Both the tanks 51 and 6l are open,

to the atmosphere so as to obtain proper action' of the apparatus, and a spigot 62 is provided in the lower end ot ytheltank 61h from which the drinking water may be Y drawn asy needed.

` In'opera'tion the occupant of the life boat is seated: on one4 of thel seats 11 and operates the lever 47 by means of the handle 50. The

rocking of the lever 47 causes the pistons 2G and 36 to reciprocate in the cylinders 2l and 34 respectively so that compressed air `formed in the cylinder 2l passing through the outlet valve 24, the coil 30, the pipe 3l, T

pressed air under the action of the vacuum p in the chamber 32 so that the water vapor is forced out of the vapor chamber 32 and cyl-y inder 34 by the piston 36, through the valve 58 'and condensing coil 59. The vapor in the coil 59 condenses to water which is forced through the pipe 60 into the tank 6l andy may be drawn from said tank through the spigot 62 from time to time for drinking purposes. The salt remainingtrom the vaporization of the water drops into t-he tray 5G and may be cleaned out from time to time by removing the cover 33. The compressed air in the tank 18 operates the air motor 17 which causes the rotation of the propeller 15 thus driving the lite boat to land. y v It is understood that a number of my units are placed in the lite boat so that each occupant of the lite boat works to produce compressed air for operating the propeller and distilling water for drinking purposes; My apparatus `is especially advantageous in that it is unnecessary to carry i'uel to operate the propeller l5 and to distill the salt water for the preparation of drinking water. Thus the lite boat can have a greater capacity tor carrying` passengers and food. Also the salt water is distilled in vacuo at a low temperature so that the heat from the stills does not cause inconvenience to thev occupants. f

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, since manifestly thel same can be considerably-varied without dep arturo from the spirit of the invention as defined in the' appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, l

the combination with a life boat, ot man-v ually operated meansffor compressing-air, manually operated'` means forcreatingy a vacuum, meansv for distillingfsa'lt waterin vacuo utilizing the heat of saidcompressed air, means for condensing the vapors of said salt water for use as drinking water, and

means for propellingsaid life boat by the use" of said compressed air. f

3. In an apparatus of theclass described, the combination with a motor driven life boat, of a distilling apparatus comprisinga vacuum chamber, manually operated means for simultaneously compressing an operat-y ing fluid for a motor and creating a vacuum in said chamber, means for distilling water y ing the steam from said salt water for use y as drinking water, and means forutilizing said compressed air for the propulsion of said life boat.

5. In an apparatus of theclass described, the combination with a life boat, of a compressed air cylinder, a piston slidablymounted in said cylinder, means for manually re-` ciprocating said piston in said cylinder so as to form compressed air, means for manually creating a vacuum, means associated with said cylinder for preheating salt water uti lizing the heat of the compressed air in said cylinder, means'for distilling said salt. water utilizing the heat of said compressed air` means for condensing the steam `from said.. salt water for use as drinking water, and.

means for utilizing said compressed air for the propulsion of said life boat.

6. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination with a life boat,vof means for compressing air, pumping means for creating a vacuum, means fory manually ac`v tuating said air compressor and said vacuum pump, means for utilizing the compressed air formed by said air compressor for the propulsion of said life boat, means for dis-Y tilling salt water in vacuo, utilizing the heat of'said compressed air, and means for'con- (lensing the steam from said salt water for use as drinking water.

7. In an apparatus of theclass described, the combination with a lifeboat, of means for manually producing compressed air, ai

vapor chamber, means for passing said coinpressed air through a coil in said vapor chamber to a compressed air container, man-` ually actuated means for creating a vacuum .in said vapor.1chamber,rmeans for --applying salt water to the/outside of said coil so as "to'fy cause Vthe vaporization of said saltV waterv utilizing :the'heat in'saidcompres'sed air,-

meansfor condensing the steam kfrom said salt water.'tomformljdrinlring water, and

means for propelling said life boat utilizing the compressed air in said container.

8. `A device as/described inclaimt?char-l acterized by means associated with said air.y y compressor means, adapted vtopreheat said salt water utilizing the heat of the compressed air before said salt water is'applied to said coil. y I

9. A device as described in claim "7k characterized by means in said vapor `chamber adapted to receive the salt formed as a residue from the distillation `of said saltwater.

l0. In a life boat apparatus, a vacuum chamber, a compressor, a hollow ymember in the vacuum chamber and into which coinpressed` air is delivered, andA the memberk thereby heated, a salt water supply pipe. eX-

tending into the vacuum"V chamber and discharging on to the said member,y and means for producing a vacuum in said chamber and withdrawing the' vapors therefrom.

ll. In a life boat apparatus,` anairy compressor, a vacuum chamber, a coil in said. chamber, and into which compressed airis forced, andthe coil thereby heated and mil means for discharging salt water into saidy coil.

l2. In a'life boatapparatuaan air coinpresso'r, a vacuum chamber, a coil in the chamber heated by compressedair, means for dischargingsalt water in the form of a spray on the coil, and-meansfor producing a vacuum in said chamber and the vapors therefrom] y v 13. In' a lifeboat apparatus, an air compressor, -av chamber, a coil in the chamber' withdrawing and into which compressed airisv` forced i i wherebytlie coil may be heated, means forv discharging salt water in the form of a spray on the coil whereby the spray may be vaporized, a pump connected with thev said chainber for producing a vacuum therein and withdrawing the vapors therefrom, and y,a condensing coil connected with said pump.`

14. The combination with a boat provided with a motor driven propeller, and means to compress an operating fluid for the motor, of

a distilling apparatus comprising a vapori izing chamber, means for simultaneously op# erating the compressor and for drawing salt pressedv iiuid ymanifold connectingl the com! pressor and the motor andl passing through i l said chamber, whereby heat o'f .the comvwaterinto the vaporizing chamber, a com" pressed operating iluidserves to'vapo'rizethe water, and a condenser for said vaporizer.

l5. The combination with a boat provided with a turbine driven propellerkand means for compressing an operating fluid therefor,

of an evaporator comprising a vacuum chamber, means for manually operating the compressor and for creating a vacuum in said chamber simultaneouslvmeans for admitting salt Water to the chamber, and a manifold connecting the compressor and motor, and passing through the chamber whereby the heat of the operating fluid is utilized to vaporize the Water in the charn- 10 ber.

16. The combination With 'a motor boat having means for compressing an operating iuid for the motor, of an evaporator comprising a vacuum chamber7 a compressed i'luid Conduit passing therethrough, and means for introducing a .liquid into said chamber whereby the heat of the compressed fluid Within the conduit will vaporize the Huid.

FRANK ARCHIE GRAHAM. 

